


Where The River Runs [on hold]

by yoon5h



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: A lot of angst and drama, Also please take a moment to imagine 18 year old Richie like damn, Because I suck at romance, Ben Hanscom Loves Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough Loves Beverly Marsh, But like what's new, Eddie and Richie are oblivious, F/M, I love Stan so there's probably gonna be a lot of him here, I really thought this would be a cool idea, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Like really give that boy a break please, M/M, Please don't judge me I've been watching too much psycho horror stuff, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie's parents die, So it's like 5 years after chapter 1, Stanley Uris is So Done, There's a bit of tension, They're about to finish High School, This is inspired by some movies I've seen recently so, Which makes the whole story a bit complicated, also yes hopper is here, how do you tag anyway, i'll do my best, they are 18 here, trigger warning: homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-09 05:44:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20848478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoon5h/pseuds/yoon5h
Summary: A few weeks before finals, Richie's parents are murdered in their own home while Richie and his friends are at the movies. At first, it looks like a robbery gone horribly wrong, but when the cops discover that nothing has been stolen, the teenagers' lives are turned upside down yet again, secrets are unraveled and all in all, they just can't seem to catch a break. On top of that, one of them starts acting even weirder than he's supposed to and soon enough, the once so close group of friends starts falling apart.TLDR:Beverly can't decide which boy she feels better with while Richie's parents are killed.





	1. Don't freak out, kids

The doors swung wide open and a crowd of people stormed out into the fresh air of April, 1994. The chattering was vibrant, almost too much for a group of friends that just wanted to talk about the experience of watching a new movie most of them found extremely funny. Seven friends, to be precise, one girl and six boys. They all tried to push past the other people as quickly as possible to find a better spot to share their experiences. After what felt like 10 minutes, the crowd had finally shrunk and the teenagers had made it to their bikes, they looked at each other with various expressions, eager to talk about what they had just witnessed.

Bill, Ben, Beverly, Stanley, Eddie, Mike and Richie had been friends for years now, growing closer by fighting a supernatural monstrosity that had fed on several children in their hometown, Derry; including Bill's younger brother Georgie. It had been everything but a pleasant journey, with some of them almost ending up dead as well, but they were all very much alive. _At least on the inside_, Stanley had said.

Five years later, they were seniors, on their way to graduate and leave the old chapter of their lives behind to start a new one. Not all of them had plans for the future, though; Richie for example had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. Bill wanted to become a writer as he'd developed a love for horror stories, mildly because he himself had been part of something that one would call 'pure horror fiction' and whatnot. Eddie, despite his friend continuously telling him to become a doctor, wanted to become someone that didn't have to deal with unsanitary occurrences, though he had no idea what exactly he could become with that kind of demands. Mike just wanted to leave to Florida, though he had no idea what he could do there, nor if he would be able to deal with the disappointed look on his grandfather's face if he left.

Beverly wanted to do something creative, like become a designer or something, and Ben wanted to design as well, maybe houses or something like that. Stanley had no idea either, he just knew he wanted to leave Derry behind as fast as he could and go to college. Maybe he would become something boring, he'd be fine with anything as long as he didn't have to come back. Richie teased him about his negative perspective a lot, but deep down, even the trashmouth knew the feeling Stanley expressed on rare occasions.

In fact, all of them did. Talk about childhood trauma, if they hadn't experienced it before _it_ had surfaced, they certainly had after. So, judging by their state of mind, they were extremely brave teenagers and especially Beverly never failed to remind them of that.

Little did they know, the cloud of suffering would soon make its way back to them sooner than they thought.

As the friends were pushing their bikes down the streets, laughter filled the darkness of the night when they talked about their feelings regarding the new movie.

"You were asleep, birdboy", Richie teased after Stanley had made a snarky comment about the movie and everyone chuckled again. Stanley just rolled his eyes in his usual way, keeping quiet after and listening to the others' blabbering.

"I'm still mad you spilled your fucking drink all over my hand", Eddie exclaimed, an angry look on his face when he stared at Richie, who just gestured wildly while trying to make up excuses and pouted when Mike put him in his place. "You could've just swallowed it, like, you know, a normal person?" Another eye-roll from Stanley.

Beverly, Ben and Bill were behind the other boys, the girl in the middle trying to keep up with both the conversations the boys had started. You see, a few years back, Ben had written a poem for Beverly that she kept in a secret place because she adored it so much. Yet, she had kissed Bill, who also adored her almost as much as Ben did, and even though she wasn't dating any of the boys, it wasn't hard to tell that both Bill and Ben - even after five years, still - were head over heels in love with the ginger-haired girl, who was caught up in a situation she had never dared to imagine herself in. So, she just did her best to be as kind to both of them as possible; she even avoided parties that involved alcohol, just in case she would do something stupid while drunk. Instead, she had just started smoking more and, really, even though some were oblivious to everything, especially Mike noticed how much the situation really pressured her.

Mike had always been the less noticeable one in the group, or, well, that was until he had joined the school band and started singing. He really had a talent when it came to music and the others admired him for it. Aside from that, he was also a very good listener and a shoulder to cry on for all of his friends; he was a sensitive young man with a sense of emotions.

During their walk home, Richie suddenly stopped in his tracks, resulting in Eddie crashing his bike into Stanley's when they all came to a halt at Richie's sudden movement. "What the fuck, Tozier?", Eddie yelled and clumsily yanked his bike to the side before Stanley could attack him. Richie just beamed at the others. "Hey, what do you think, anyone up for a midnight swim?"

"Uhm." Stanley huffed. "How about no?"

"_How about no?_ " Richie mocked Stanley. "Just because you're married to your math book-"

"I-I don't think it's s-s-safe to go now", Bill said, grunting quietly. "It's t-too dark. S-someone could get- hurt."

Ben was about to agree with Bill when Beverly stopped him before he could even start, smiling. "What, why? We're seven people, we take care of ourselves and each other. Let's just go get our swimsuits and meet up here so we can leave together. School's so stressful, I think we deserve some more fun before we gotta go back to studying, hm?"

Bill mumbled something in defeat and Stanley rolled his eyes at both Bill's behavior and Beverly's remark but kept quiet. Richie, on the other hand, just yelled about how right the girl was and Ben just shrugged as well, half ready to leave and get his things.

"Yeah, no, what if someone falls and starts bleeding? What if someone drowns? It's so dark, we can't just go to the fucking lake when there's no fucking source of light _at all_, okay?", Eddie gushed out, clutching the fanny pack he didn't even need but still carried around anyway. "I'm so not doing CPR for any of you fuckers, you hear me? That's gross and disgusting and all the germs and-"

"Eddie", Beverly stopped him, "no one's gonna drown, okay? We're very capable of looking out for each other. Besides, we know that lake by heart. It's gonna be fine."

"It is settled, then, I am chuffed to bits!", Richie screamed in the ridiculous British accent he would probably never ever let go. "Now, before any of you change their bloody minds, let's get runnin'!"

"I haven't even change-", Stanley started but stopped and sighed when the others jumped onto their bikes and left him behind. Shrugging, he slowly made his way towards his own home. It was closer than most of the others' anyway.

It took about fifteen minutes for everyone - except Richie - to show up back at the place they had agreed to meet at before going to the lake. It took about fifteen minutes extra for everyone to start getting worried.

"Guys... let's just wait a bit longer. We can't just leave without him, that's mean", Ben said when Stanley got annoyed and suggested to leave without Richie.

"I-I think", Bill spoke up; and Mike noticed the way his knuckles turned white when he gripped the handlebar of his bike; "I think w-we should- we should g-go and l-l-look for h-him."

Beverly looked over at the boy, her eyes glistening as she realized that his stutter got worse. It always got worse when he got nervous or scared.

"I'm not going", Stanley refused, "I don't have a problem with just going back home and hiding in my bed until I need to get up and study for my math finals."

"You a-also w-wouldn't complain if you f-fell off the wrong s-s-side of the", Bill swallowed in annoyance, "cliff."

"I'm-" Stanley hissed but stopped before he could say anything offensive. Instead, he just did a weird gesture with his hands. "_Fine_ then, let's go."

Mike, who had kept quiet until then, nodded in agreement. "His house isn't far. We won't die if we go and look for him. Who knows, maybe his parents are throwing a fit or something. Wouldn't be the first time."

"I'm gonna kill him if he decided to just not come and worry us for fun", Eddie announced when they started moving down the streets. "It's Richie, whatever that little fucker's doing to piss us off right now, I swear..." The whole way down to Richie's house, Eddie kept rambling about how irresponsible Richie was and how he was gonna kick his ass if he had really just decided to be a dick. Their walk didn't take that long and, soon enough, every single one of the teenagers stopped in their tracks as they spotted the house, jaws dropping.

Despite the dark of the night, it was full of light around Richie's house; at first, the others didn't even register what was going on, just stared at the blinking red and blue lights illuminating the neighborhood.

After a while, Eddie was the first one to speak up. "Fuck, something happened, I- I really didn't mean to-"

With a loud noise, Beverly's bike hit the ground when she let go of it and started running towards the house. Merely seconds later, the other bikes fell as well; even Stanley's, who usually never let his bike fall to the ground and would always find time to neatly place it somewhere it couldn't fall.

The seconds they ran towards the house felt like an eternity to Eddie, but they also felt like everything but enough time to possibly prepare for what could have happened to Richie. Thoughts were racing in his head and he almost started crying when he thought about how bad he had talked about the other boy just moments before. _I didn't mean to be an asshole_, he repeated in his head, over and over again, _please, just let him fucking step out of there and tell us he's okay._

Just a moment later, they were stopped by two policemen who had noticed the kids, desperately trying to explain that, no, they could not enter the house now. It was a loud chatter, Eddie almost screaming in panic, before Chief Hopper pushed past his colleagues and cleared his throat. "Kids, first of all, calm down. What the hell do you think you're doing here? It's past midnight on a Sunday, don't you have some finals to study for or something?"

"I-If anyone me-mentions the finals one more fu-fucking time", Bill groaned, honestly, he could not care less about the way the chief looked at him. Much like everybody else, the only priority he had was Richie now.

Eddie's quiet gasps for air caught Hopper's attention before he could scold Bill for his choice of words. "Hey, boy, you okay?"

Eddie was so glad he didn't take off his fanny pack. All gazebos aside; hypochondriac yes or no, his asthma spray allowed him to clear his airways so he could pitifully press out a "Where is Richie?"

Hopper's facial expression softened, much to the teenagers' relief, and he pointed at an ambulance vehicle behind the police cars. "He's in there, I don't think he's hurt. Maybe only one of you should-" All six of them started running towards their friend, making the chief groan. "-see him now, fucking hell, I hate kids."

"Chief", another policeman said, "the crime scene's secured, we can go and start looking for clues now."

Hopper nodded. "Yeah." He grabbed a cigarette and placed it between his lips, mumbling quietly. "And I also hate my job sometimes."

"Richie!" Eddie thought his lungs where gonna collapse when he'd finally reached the vehicle Richie was sitting in; wrapped in a blanket. A closer look and Eddie realized there was blood on his clothes and his hands and- literally everywhere. Richie's long, dark curls were messy, some locks were sticking to his face where the dark red substance decorated his skin. He wasn't wearing his glasses either and Eddie almost threw up at the sight of his best friend being such a mess. Wordlessly, he closed his arms around Richie's stiff body, chest heaving, while the others just stood there, staring.

"Wuh-w-what the h-hell ha-happened, Rich?" Bill was the first to speak up, his voice quiet and nervous.

Richie stared ahead for a while, then cleared his throat. "I, uh. Someone murdered them. Someone murdered my parents."

A gasp. "What?!" Mike stepped closer and wrapped his fingers around one of Richie's hands, holding tight. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No", Richie rasped out, "no, I'm not hurt. None of this blood's mine."

Stanley took a few steps back, feeling sick at how calm Richie sounded. "How can you be so- so calm? What's wrong with you?"

"Stanley!", Beverly yelled, eyes narrowed when she glared back at the boy. "Don't be such a dick now, he's just lost his damn parents!"

While Stan chewed his quivering bottom lip, Ben spoke up with a teary voice. "Everyone processes loss differently, you know. Some cry, some scream, some are just emotionless. Please don't be mean to Richie, not now."

"I'm sorry", Stanley squeaked, "I'm sorry, Richie, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay", the boy in the ambulance mumbled, "it's not like they ever cared about me anyway. I guess I would've cried if I were actually close to them."

"That's still horrible", Beverly spoke softly and walked to stand next to Mike, who was still holding Richie's hand, "we're here for you, okay? Don't think you're alone now, please."

"It's fine, really", Richie said, "I just really wanna go to that damn lake and get rid of all this blood."

Eddie scoffed, looking up at Richie. "Are you retarded? You can't just run off now, they need to check you and you're gonna have to give a statement and-"

"If you run off now, they're gonna think you're a suspect or something", Mike stated, calmly, and shrugged when he noticed the others' glances. "What? Someone has to say it."

"I'm so sorry we're all so insensitive, Richie", Ben said, tensely playing with the hem of his shirt. Richie let out a small laugh and shook his head. "Oh, come on. You know it needs a whole lot more to ruin my mood", he answered, "I still have you guys, and, you know. You're- okay, I guess."

Eddie sighed and finally let go of Richie; not sure if he held onto him for so long because he wanted to reassure him or because he wanted to get his breath under control, which usually worked best when he was close to someone he cared for. "Yes, we know we're more of a family to you than your parents have ever been. Thanks for telling us."

Richie pulled a face, then rolled his eyes and looked over at one of the policemen. "Hey, how long do I need to stay here? I'm really fucking tired and I also don't wanna be near this house right now, understandable, isn't it?"

The man looked at him with a confused expression, then proceeded to pull out his notebook before he walked over to the kids, gesturing for them to get away from Richie so he could talk to him. Eddie shook his head, a stubborn look on his face, and the man sighed, "Fine. Okay, Richie it is, right?"

Richie nodded.

"My name is Robert. Tell me what you saw. Your friends might wanna leave for this, it could be horrible-"

"Oh, hell no", Eddie chimed in, "haven't you people ever heard of mental support? I'm staying."

"Okay, jeez, calm down, kid", Robert grumbled and looked back at Richie. "So?"

"Well." Richie gulped. "My friends and I were watching a movie, you know, as one does, and decided to go for a midnight swim, so we all went to get our swimming gear." He let out a small sigh. "When I got home, I realized I didn't have my key and nobody would answer the door, so I just- climbed through my window. I have this trick of getting in and out whenever I want, you know. I'm a teenager who was neglected by his parents, don't even judge me."

"Okay, okay." The policeman rolled his eyes. "And what happened then?"

"Then, I took off my shoes, went to get my stuff and felt hungry, so I went down to grab some snacks for me and these idiots." Eddie slapped Richie's arm, gently, because he already felt bad enough. Richie didn't seem to notice, or he just didn't care, he just continued explaining. "So, it was dark, and I was scared I might wake up someone, so I didn't turn on any lights. If you wanna get to the kitchen, you gotta go through the living room, which, obviously, I did. And then... do you know that feeling when you're in your socks and step into something wet? Like, gross. Anyway. I felt something wet on my feet, so I thought someone had spilled something. When I turned on the lights to check, well. I saw it was blood. And, just a few feet away, they were on the floor, just laying there in this... disgusting puddle of blood and, and- I don't know, flesh? Hair? Intesti-"

Eddie jumped back and hurried to at least manage a few steps to get some distance before he fell to his knees and puked, one hand pressed to his chest. Stanley pulled a face, a mixture of disgust and pity, and finally turned to walk away from Richie and the others so he didn't have to listen to Richie's descriptions anymore.

Bill shivered a bit and was about to turn to Beverly for support, but Ben was first to bury his face in Beverly's hug, so Bill just frowned, the feeling of pure jealousy distracting him from Richie's vivid descriptions. He knew it wasn't the right moment to be jealous, but it had been five years since Beverly had last kissed him and he was still not over that; he didn't think he would ever be able to forget that feeling. He'd been close to Beverly since day one, but then, there was Ben. Ben was a good kid, sure... but Bill couldn't help his annoyance with him. Why would someone be so happy about some cheesy words squeezed into something called poetry? Why couldn't it be way more interesting to read riveting stories?

Over the years, the bullying had become less and less and Bill even dared to say that he did get some glances from girls in the hallways, more than the others did. He wasn't full of himself, that wasn't it. But with jealousy, comparisons surfaced. Bill looked at Ben in a different way now, especially because he just _knew_ that, no matter how much of a sunshine Ben was, he was trying to compete. And Bill wasn't going to lose another person he loved. He just couldn't. As dramatic as it sounded.

"Bill?" Beverly's voice made him flinch and look up. "Huh?"

He then noticed Richie leaving with Eddie and Mike, leaving Bill with Ben and Beverly. "W-what is it?", he asked, confused, and Beverly chuckled softly, placing a hand on his cheek and gently squeezing it. "Did you zone out? Richie's done, he's allowed to leave and stay at Eddie's place until the cops and, uh, child protective services have a solution for him, I guess. He's gonna have to come down to the station tomorrow, but until then, he's good to go. And so are we, so. You coming?"

"Of c-course", Bill nodded. "I j-ju-just need to get my b-b-.. my b-"

"We all need to get our bikes", Beverly smiled; a reassuring smile, to say the least, "are you alright?"

Bill shrugged and crossed his arms. "Y-Yes. Just a b-bit much."

"I know." Beverly reached out to rub his back. "You're gonna be okay, yeah? We're all in this together, I promise. And you're allowed to feel bad, but imagine how Richie must feel now. We all know he's just pretending. Let's be there for him, he needs us, okay?"

They all went to grab their bikes and said goodbye, promising to visit Richie and Eddie after getting some sleep, then parted company for the night. Eddie left with Richie, Ben and Mike, as they all had to walk down the same road before eventually splitting up as well. Meanwhile, Bill and Stanley went with Beverly, the boys too shaken up to even think about sitting on their bikes. They didn't need another bloody event. Not again.


	2. Dance with the devil, motherfucker

Beverly and Bill tried to keep the conversation calm, though neither of them could get to Stanley. The boy just stared at his fingers while walking, his face was pale and his forehead was showing wrinkles from all the frowning.

"S-Stan, are you o-okay?", Bill finally asked and Stanley jumped a bit, looking up with wide eyes. "Eh? I- No, Bill, I'm not okay! Our friend described his dead parents, in detail, while covered in blood, and the policemen talked about corpses and coroner's wagons and meanwhile, the chief talked about how exactly these people were killed! And Eddie threw up, like, a few steps away from me! We already had to deal with a freaking clown who fucking ate children, isn't that enough?"

"Stanley", Beverly spoke, quietly, "I know you're uncomfortable with this, but we need to remember that the most important thing is that Richie is okay. It's not about us now."

"Yeah? That's funny, because the cops talked about how they called the people at the movies and they saw someone sneak out during the movie", Stanley blurted out, "and come back later, which means that, because Richie hated his parents and so did we, we could be suspects if they don't find anything missing or any clues of intruders! And I'm not gonna spend my time at the station, I have a fucking school to graduate from!"

Beverly and Bill looked at him for a while, stunned. Then, Beverly cleared her throat. "Are you suggesting that-"

"No!" Stanley interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. "But what if they are?"

"But th-they are not!" Bill grunted. "S-stop making this even m-m-more c-complicated."

"I'm just being realistic", Stanley grouched back, "I, for one, wanna keep my fucking reputation, William."

Bill gasped, very much audibly. "D-don't call m-me that."

"Boys", Beverly sighed, "I hardly believe they'd think one of us could've sneaked out to go and murder Richie's parents. I don't think anybody would be capable of that. They're gonna see that, too. Okay? Anyone could've done it, Stanley, really. We shouldn't be losing faith in our group now."

"Bold of you to assume I've had that in the first place", Stanley deadpanned, now stable enough to sit on his bike, and lazily waved. "I'm leaving. Bye."

Without any further words, he biked away, his hair floating around as it had grown longer over the years, now fully framing his slim face.

Beverly and Bill just stared at him leaving on his own, speechless for a while. "Now what the fuck was that all about?", Beverly grumbled after a while, shaking her head. "It's like he's hiding something he really doesn't want us to know."

Bill looked over at the girl, forcing himself to stay focused and not get lost in thoughts about how beautiful even her messy hair was. "D-do you th-think he- knows someth-thing?", he asked, carefully, feeling both ridiculous and nervous once the words had tumbled from his lips. As expected, Beverly's eyes widened.

"You mean about the murders?"

Bill nodded, slowly. "I m-mean, maybe h-he has an i-idea... he's s-sm-smart, after all."

Beverly huffed. "Huh. Smarter than these police officers, definitely. But how would he know who'd wanna hurt Richie and his parents? I mean, unless..."

"Unless w-wh-what?", Billed asked, lips quivering at all the thoughts racing in his head. When Beverly shook her head dismissively, ginger locks flying around, Bill swallowed his doubts. Stanley had always made problems bigger than they actually were, nobody should jump to conclusions just because a teenager was freaked out by his friend's parents being murdered.

The words alone made Bill feel sick to his stomach. _Richie's parents had been murdered._ What if they hadn't been at the movies? What if Richie had just stayed home to study or play this new board game with Eddie? What if...

Before he could stop himself, tears were rolling down his cheeks and he sobbed softly, immediately pushing away the thought before finishing it. Beverly let go of her bike and stepped closer when she noticed what was happening. Wordlessly, they both looked at each other before Beverly wrapped her arms around Bill's shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug.

Even though the gesture was supposed to be reassuring, Bill couldn't help the way the lump in his throat started growing when he leaned in to press his wet cheeks into the crook of the girl's neck, silently apologizing for getting her dress all wet.

"What is it, Bill?", Beverly whispered after a while and Bill sighed; he could feel his own heartbeat pulsing through his throat when he spoke. "W-what if w-we hadn't b-been at the- m-m.. movies?", he whimpered back.

Beverly's breath hitched, Bill could feel it against his chest, the way her body flinched. "No, no, Bill", she gently pushed him away from her body so she could put her hands on his cheeks instead, a serious expression on her face. "Look at me, Bill. Hm? It's okay. We were at the movies. Richie is as okay as he could be in this situation. And we're here as well. It's okay, Bill, don't cry, please. Don't."

"Beverly", Bill mumbled softly, the way they were standing in the middle of the road at night with Beverly's hands on his cheeks making him feel dizzy. His heart skipped a beat when he looked up into her eyes. What could possibly go wrong now? Would it be wrong to just close the space and kiss her? It had been years and Bill truly missed the feeling of Beverly's lips on his. An image of Ben flashed right before his eyes, sending a shiver down his spine. He liked Ben, he really did, but- he hadn't imagined the chemistry between them, right? It couldn't be.

Beverly's hands were still on his cheeks when she spoke, "what is it, Bill?"

Bill swallowed everything he'd possibly want to say. This wasn't the right moment, they were tense and overwhelmed, uneasy. Or was it? His heart was racing and his head was spinning with all the doubts; Beverly could feel his body shake between her hands, so she gently caressed his cheeks with her thumbs. "Bill?"

Finally, Bill snapped out of it and took a deep breath before he let out a dry chuckle. _Might as well go for it_, he thought to himself and then, then he stepped forward, his lips pressing against Beverly's just like the first time; melting into each other's embrace. Beverly let go of his cheeks and held his shoulder with one hand, the other one buried in Bill's short hair. She tasted like cigarettes and popcorn. Bill thought that, shit, he might just explode right there in Beverly's arms when he felt everything but resistance in her actions.

After a while, Beverly pulled back, looking at Bill with an expression the boy couldn't quite put his finger on. "W-what is it?", he asked, licking his lips.

Beverly shifted, looking down with a sigh. "We... we should get going, it's getting late."

"I'm s-sorry", Bill whimpered, "I sh-shouldn't have-"

"It's okay", Beverly smiled a bit when she looked back up, "I just need a while to think, yeah? Hard times, you know."

"I know." Bill grabbed his bike and straightened his shoulders. "L-Let's go."

When they started moving again, Bill couldn't help but notice the awkward silence that now hung between them. _A while to think, my ass,_ he thought. Five years should be enough.

\-------

"Wow, you're in a mood." Back at Eddie's house, Richie was sprawled over his best friend's bed after taking a shower, looking up when Eddie stomped into the room and slammed his door shut before squeaking "Sorry, ma."

"Yes", the shorter one grunted, "my mother just really doesn't like you very much after all that with my broken arm."

"She's still mad about that?" Richie sat up, crossing his legs, so Eddie could sit on his own bed as well. "That was years ago."

Eddie scoffed. "Yeah, but you know my mother."

Richie's lips curled up into a smirk and before Eddie could stop him, he yelled out, "Oh, and how well I know her."

"You're so fucking gross", Eddie spat, shaking his head. "One might think you'd at least stop behaving like a child for a short period of time, but yet, here you are, still not over my mother. Gross."

Richie's smirk softened into a smile. "Oh, come on. Are you concerned about me?"

Eddie gaped. "Are you stupid or something? Of course I'm concerned about you!"

"Aw." Richie nudged Eddie's side with his elbow. "Cute, cute, cute."

"Fuck off", Eddie sighed. "I'm so not in the mood right now. Your parents just got killed and I feel like I'm the only one worried about you. It wouldn't kill you to tell me how you feel, you know?"

Richie frowned. "What, as in- emotions?" When Eddie nodded, he shook his head. "Nah. I don't know how to do that."

"Wow, you're such an idiot." Eddie got up and turned to face Richie while taking off his fanny pack. "I'm serious, Rich. I wanna know."

"I know you do", Richie shrugged, "but what am I supposed to say? My parents, the two people who are responsible for me being here, are dead and I almost slipped in their remains? Of course it's horrible, but what do you expect?"

"Tears, maybe?" Eddie pulled a face. "I don't remember you being so cold."

"I'm not cold. My head's just empty, Eds. I really don't know what you want me to say."

Eddie sighed, tempted to scold Richie for using that nickname. "I'm sorry, I swear. I guess I just- don't really-" He stopped talking, biting his bottom lip, and Richie's heart sunk.

He felt bad. Even though his parents were the ones murdered, he couldn't help but think about Eddie's father who had died when Eddie was five. Back then, Eddie hadn't really been able to understand why his father would never come back, but it hadn't taken long for him to eventually realize what had happened. Eddie understood what losing a family member was like, no matter how close. He was hurt and didn't want Richie to suffer in silence like he did.

Richie's eyes scanned Eddie's face. Over the years, his hair had grown longer as well, his shoulders had become a bit broader and he had finally started growing in general. The thing about Eddie was that, no matter what he did, no matter what he looked like, he always made Richie's heart swell. His eyes were dark and big, his lashes long and pretty, his lips were full and even his teeth were so _fucking_ white. And, shit, the little freckles on his nose. Sometimes, Richie would catch himself trying to count them.

Eddie took care of his body and appearance and it was visible.

Richie almost thought he was in love with Eddie. That would be weird, right?

"Eds", he mumbled softly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't", Eddie whispered, "You didn't. I'm fine. This is not about me."

Richie shook his head. "Listen, sweet pea, I need some time to think, okay? Right now, I'm a bit shaken, but I'm surviving. I'm just, you know. Glad I'm here with you. But I don't want you sad, please. Do me this favor and don't be sad. I hate that. I might even cry."

Despite their constant bickering and Richie being sure Eddie would laugh, he didn't. Instead, Eddie just placed his fanny pack on his nightstand and crawled back to sit on the bed, reaching for Richie's hands. "Okay, I won't be sad, I promise. Just don't cry. I wouldn't know how to deal with that."

Richie tried to find a mocking tone in Eddie's words, he really did, just in case, but he couldn't. Eddie's big eyes were fixated on Richie's face, making his head spin. He quickly closed his eyes when the feeling became too overwhelming, taking a deep breath. "Good. That's good", he said after a while and opened his eyes again. Eddie's hands were still wrapped around Richie's.

"Are you", Eddie rasped, "are you hungry?"

"Really?" Richie pulled a face. "I thought we were having a moment here."

Eddie chuckled. "Yeah. Sorry."

Hearing Eddie chuckle made Richie smile as well and he gave Eddie's hands a light squeeze before he let go of them, letting himself fall back and putting his glasses next to Eddie's fanny pack. "I'm not hungry, I'm just tired. Let's just go to sleep, Eddie Spaghetti."

Eddie frowned. "On second thought... I think I'm hurt, after all."

"Fuck you", Richie grunted, trying to push Eddie aside with his feet so he could grab the blanket. "Just go to sleep, Edward Spaghetward."

Eddie gasped. "What the fuck?" Still grumbling about Richie being a dick, he moved to lay down next to Richie, pulling the blanket with him and covering both their bodies with it.

Richie laughed quietly, despite his heart beating faster now. This wasn't the first time they'd slept in the same bed, but, to be fair, it wasn't the first time Richie got nervous about it either.

Eddie's hair tickled his cheek as he turned to face Richie, a small move to indicate he was right there and not going anywhere, just in case Richie needed some reassurance. Sighing, Richie reached over to turn off the lights, the dark swallowing both boys as Eddie moved his hand up to Richie's chest in a silent _it's okay, I'm here._

"Good night, Eds", Richie mumbled softly and smiled when he heard Eddie's response. "Good night, asshole."

It didn't take long for Eddie's breath to even out, letting Richie know he'd fallen asleep next to him, and, like he would always do, sneakily wrapped his arms around Eddie's shoulders, pulling him closer. His warmth made Richie feel safe and comfortable, so it didn't take long for him to fall asleep as well.

\-------

In the morning, feelings had changed for Richie. He had woken up early, found himself shaking and quietly sobbing into Eddie's hair. His mind was going crazy, his dreams had been full of blood and, even awake, he couldn't stop thinking about the moment he had found both his parents dead. The blood splattered all across the room, coating the walls and floor and even the furniture. There had been a bloody trophy on the floor, right next to his father's lifeless body. Richie didn't even remember what his father had won the trophy for, but he did know that the police would most likely declare it a weapon used in the commission of the crime. How ironic, he thought. His father had been so full of himself, never even caring about his wife coming home drunk as fuck and making Richie feel bad for it, that, now that he was dead, the possibility of being beaten to death with his own trophy almost made Richie laugh sarcastically.

Still, now that the events had finally sunken in, Richie felt sick. They were dead, like, for real. There was no going back now. He'd never had their support, of course not, but that didn't mean that being on his own while still being a student, not even earning money, seemed like a nice life. And, hell, he didn't want child protective services to send him away to another family, maybe even far away from the only people he had left in his life.

The thought of leaving Eddie alone made him tear up. Watching how peacefully Eddie was sleeping didn't help. He really needed to get out.

Carefully, Richie pulled his arm back and stilled, waiting for a while to make sure Eddie was still asleep, then quietly climbed out of bed. He was about to leave the room when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked like death.

It had been one single night and he already looked like he hadn't slept in ages. His long, curly hair was messy and stuck to his face from all those tears. The image made him shiver. Hours before, it was blood his hair had been stuck in.

For a second, he could have sworn there was blood all over his body. His hands, his clothes, everything.

One blink and it was gone.

Sighing, he stared at his shirt. He had taken spare clothes from his house, hadn't even checked which ones, and suddenly, he realized it was one of the shirts his father had given him because _stop wearing those weird clothes, you look like a fucking faggot, I didn't raise my son to just go and be a fucking cockslut._

Richie was angry. If it wasn't for Eddie, he would've punched his reflection right then and there.

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, breathing heavily. "Yeah, go and dance with the devil, motherfucker", he spat quietly before ripping the shirt in half with his bare hands.

It felt good. But now he was half naked.

Richie glanced back at Eddie, who was turning in his bed, still asleep. He smiled momentarily at how innocent Eddie looked in his sleep. He was even hugging his pillow.

After thinking for a while, Richie opened Eddie's closet and looked for a sweater. Yes, it was summer, but he felt the need to cuddle up into one of Eddie's sweaters. He knew there were some bigger sweaters hidden somewhere, despite Eddie's mother not allowing his son to get new clothes simply because she wouldn't accept the fact that he had had a massive growth spurt.

A few minutes later, he had found a nice sweater and put it on, quietly closing the closet again. The smell of _pure Eddie_ made its way up Richie's nose and he inhaled deeply, feeling like a fucking creep.

He wrapped his arms around himself to press the material closer to his skin and looked over at Eddie again before leaving the room.

Originally, he had planned on sneaking out of the house, but when he'd reached the kitchen, he bumped into Eddie's mother, Sonia.

_Fuck._

"Uh", he mumbled when Sonia stared him down, "good morning, Mrs. K."

"Good morning", she responded, "why are you running through the house on your own? In my baby's sweater?"

Richie held back the urge to gag. "I didn't... have anything else to wear. Eddie is still asleep, I couldn't sleep but didn't want to wake him. He's exhausted."

"Well, that I can confirm." Sonia shook her head. "Usually, this would be considered way too much stress for my boy. But since you don't have anywhere else to go and I can understand why you wouldn't want to stay at home under these circumstances, I assume it's fine."

Richie nodded. "I appreciate it."

"Good." Sonia reached out and grabbed Richie's hands, hard. "Just make sure you don't hurt my boy. And if I catch you doing something weird to him-"

Richie's eyes widened. He didn't dare looking back at her, so he just stared at how her big hands squeezed his. He even considered chopping them off, so hard was her death grip. "I would never, Mrs. K, I swear. All our fighting is fake, it's for fun."

"That's not what I mean", Eddie's mother deadpanned and it dawned on Richie.

"I'm- I'm not gay", he protested, "and Eddie isn't either, so why would I-?!"

The woman was about to remark when Eddie's tired but sharp voice interrupted her before she could even begin to speak. "Let go of him, mother, what the hell?"

Finally, Richie's hands were released and he whimpered softly, taking a few steps back to stand next to Eddie.

Eddie was fuming. "I told you to stop talking bad about him, he's just lost his goddamn parents!"

"I'm just glad you weren't in that house, sweetie", his mother said.

Eddie thought he was gonna lose it. "You a- are you fucking serious? Oh my God, why are we even here? I'm gonna go grab my stuff, we're leaving, Richie."

"It's 5 in the morning, you cannot go, sweetheart", his mother shrieked and Eddie scoffed.

"Oh, but I can, watch me."

If it weren't for the situation, Richie would have laughed. Eddie standing up to his mother always made Sonia pull the most hilarious faces.

"I can't believe my own child is choosing his friend over his mother!", Sonia cried out.

Eddie raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? I can't believe my own mother is so insensitive about her son's best friend losing his parents because some psycho decided to beat them to death! Did you talk about dad like this, too? When he died? Did you make fun of him?"

_Shit,_ Richie thought, _that hit home._

"Eddie-"

"Come on, Richie. Now." Eddie left for his room and Richie grunted. "Aye, aye, good sir!"

\-------

The warm morning breeze hit they boys' faces in a comforting way when they were walking down the street. They didn't know where exactly they were going, they just knew that there was no way they were going to stay with Eddie's complaining mother any longer.

They had been walking around in silence for good 15 minutes before Eddie couldn't take it anymore and spoke up. "Were you going to leave?"

Richie looked over at him. "Huh? Nah, I just needed air. Didn't sleep that well, y'know."

"Yeah, I know", Eddie answered, "I can still feel how wet my head was."

"Huh." Richie looked away. "Weird."

Eddie glared at him. "You could have woken me up, asshole. I'm a good hugger."

Richie chuckled. "I know you are. But you looked so peaceful."

"Oh, so you were watching me sleep? You creep." Both of them knew he was joking, still, Eddie felt the need to add some more words to reassure Richie. "That's thoughtful of you, though. So much so that I'll even forgive you for stealing my sweater."

Richie frowned. "The shirt I had, my- father gave it to me. I didn't want it. So I took your sweater, I didn't wanna run around half naked. Imagine the look on your mother's face if she'd seen me leave your room half naked, teary eyes and messy hair..."

"Okay, okay, I get it", Eddie winced, "let's not talk about that, I don't wanna imagine what she would've done to us."

Richie kept quiet.

Eventually, they decided they would go to the lake and take the time to talk and maybe even study a bit before going over to Bill's. Even though Richie didn't feel like studying, he agreed because it was so important to Eddie.

And maybe, just maybe, Eddie could take Richie's mind off of whatever horrible scenarios were going on in his head.

He hated seeing Richie sad and would do everything to prevent that from happening.

Meanwhile, Richie just stared at Eddie's concentrated face and held back a massive sigh.

_Okay, maybe he_ was _a bit in love with Eddie._


End file.
